The present invention relates to cooling systems of the type which use the flow of water from sprinklers in free air and, more particularly, to a cooling water distribution system which operates in conjunction with a condenser divided into two separate cooling water compartments and which permits continued, normal operation at a reduced flow rate while one condenser compartment is inoperative.
Central air conditioning systems having towers for the cooling of water coming from condensers at the present time commonly employ atmospheric cooling towers of the humid type making use of a flow of water in free air: part of this water may evaporate while cooling the rest, which remains in the liquid state and is collected at the bottom of the tower to be recycled, after having been duly compensated for the evaporation losses by a corresponding addition of fresh water.
In order to assist in an understanding of the background for the present invention, reference is made to FIG. 1 of the drawing attached hereto which shows in a highly schematic manner a conventional cooling tower T formed, as usual, by a concrete circumference, the very large diameter circular base B of which rests, at a few meters above the ground, on the periphery of a scaffolding or support frame S, providing free access to an ascending flow of air F moved by natural or forced draft in the vast chimney constituted by the tower T.
At the bottom of the tower, across its base B, extends the air cooling portion, the essential component of which is a water distributor D in the form of a horizontal, thin sheet forming a channel G having a plurality of branches departing from the channel and ending in a plurality of sprinkling nozzles (not shown), designed and arranged to cover a sprinkling zone occupying practically the entire base section of the tower through which the ascending flow of air F is flowing. The flow of water supplied to the channel G, which has a supply collector for the sprinkler nozzles, may amount to tens of thousands of cubic meters per hour. This water comes from the condenser C by means of a pump P discharging into an intake conduit A. The water that is not evaporated drips down and is recovered at R and returned, through a recycle conduit Z, to the condenser C.
As a general rule, the condenser is subdivided into two sections or independent bodies forming separate compartments, for reasons of safety and also to permit the central installation to continue to operate with one compartment--even though at a reduced rate--in case of a breakdown or intentional shutdown (for example, for maintenance of one compartment).
However, in such a case, the flow rate of the distributor D is severely reduced, roughly to one half of the nominal flow, which has detrimental consequences in regard to the output of the sprinklers. Each sprinkler is designed to operate within relatively narrow confines and its nominal individual supply rate and this design determines not only the configuration and dimensions of the area sprinkled by each nozzle, but also its ability to break up the compact liquid flow fed to it, into a fog of droplets: a severe reduction in the feed rate would result in a strong reduction in the range of the nozzle and thus in the elementary zone sprinkled by it, and even in a transformation of the sprinkling mode from a desirable "rain" into a detrimental "jet" straight from the nozzel, somewhat like a shower with a slightly open faucet.
This condition results in very poor cooling of the condenser water and certainly the air conditioning unit no longer performs as designed, with all the consequences that may be involved.